City Centre Construction Update 20 December 2024
Above: An image of the newly pedestrianised Market Street. City Hall can be seen in the background.
Welcome to the weekly e-newsletter for the Bradford City Centre Walking and Cycling Improvements Scheme.
This edition includes everything you need to know about the Bradford City Centre Walking and Cycling Improvements Scheme for the coming days. We upload each weekly newsletter to the Future Bradford website. You can find copies of each e-newsletter on our news page if you would like to look back at previous editions.
Progress update
A year of transformation in Bradford city centre
The finish line is in sight for the major transformation work taking place to make Bradford city centre a safer, more accessible and enjoyable space to spend time.
The majority of the works are now complete, with all the major changes to the road network layout, the new bus loop in place, and the work on the new pedestrian core area of the city centre completed.
All of the new pedestrianised areas, including on Market Street, Bank Street, Bridge Street, Broadway and Hall Ings from the old Telegraph & Argus press hall to the Bradford Hotel, are now complete and fully open to the public.
The new pedestrian area now links Centenary Square and City Park with the rest of the city centre core area, making it easier for people to get between shopping and entertainment areas without navigating traffic or having to confront different kerb levels.
Landscaping and planting throughout the new pedestrian areas is mostly complete. The remaining planters will be filled with new greenery in the New Year. New street furniture has also been installed across the city centre core.
Above: an image of the resurfaced pedestrianised Bridge Street with planting.
The only fencing remaining in place in these areas is around the new planting. The fencing will remain in place over the festive period to help the greenery establish, and will be completely removed early in the New Year.
Work in the Norfolk Gardens area remains the final major section of work to complete, which is moving at pace. Our construction contractor will return in the city centre after the festive break to complete this final section of the project.
Find out more about the transformation that has happened this year by clicking this link.
Above: An image of the newly pedestrianised Bank Street and Broadway junction.
Other Progress
In other news this week, significant construction activity has been happening in the Bridge Street area. The space between St George’s Hall, Britannia House, Bradford City Hall and the Bradford Hotel has seen its paving work completed. This area has been fully opened up to the public as of Thursday 19 December.
Planting work has also been continuing, and soft landscaping (meaning adding decorative elements like plants and grass) will continue in the new year.
Important festive period information
Construction update
As of Friday 20 December 2024, construction work in the core of the city centre will pause for the festive period. The construction team will return to site on Monday 6 January 2025.
Access during the festive period
We would like to assure all city centre residents and visitors that our construction contractor will be on-hand to respond to any issues that may arise over the festive period.
To make it easier for residents and businesses, and to keep the city centre safe while construction is paused, a barrier system will be in place on the existing service route on Bank Street, Market Street, Broadway, Charles Street, Bridge Street and Hall Ings.
The barriers on the service route will be closed on the following dates and times:
Friday 20 December 12pm, to Sunday 22 December 4.30pm.
Monday 23 December, between 10.30am and 4.30pm.
Tuesday 24 December 10.30am, to Thursday 26 December 4.30pm.
Tuesday 31 December 10.30am, to Wednesday 1 January 4.30pm.
Friday 3 January 7pm, to Saturday 4 January 6am.
Saturday 4 January 7pm, to Sunday 5 January 6am.
The barriers will then revert to being in place between 10.30am and 4.30pm daily, with the exception of Friday and Saturday, when the service route will also be closed between 7pm and 6am.
The council’s city centre access booking system is still in operation, and will be monitored over the festive period, and reviewed on 6 January 2025.
Outside of the barrier closure hours, the service route will be open for access only, with ANPR, CCTV and civil enforcement in operation. Emergency services will continue to have unrestricted access. While the service route is closed there will be no access for collections/deliveries, taxis, or disabled parking.
If you have any issues regarding emergency access to the city centre core, you can get in touch via our urgent enquiries channels that we have shared below.
Enquiries
From Friday 20 December 2024 until Thursday 2 January 2025, the Future Bradford email address and phoneline will not be monitored.
For all urgent enquiries relating to the city centre construction works, you can reach out to our construction contractor, Balfour Beatty, or contact Bradford Council’s Customer Contact Centre:
Balfour Beatty (urgent construction enquiries): 0800 121 4444
Bradford Council Customer Contact Centre: 01274 431000
For all other enquiries, we will aim to respond as soon as possible when we return in the New Year.
From all the Future Bradford team, we wish you a joyful festive period and a happy New Year.
Reminders
Bradford Interchange reopening on 5 January 2025
As mentioned in a previous newsletter, Bradford Interchange will reopen on 5 January.
Preparations are underway to safely reopen the bus station upper concourse, including health and safety checks, staff training, deep cleaning, and relocation of the Travel Centre back to the bus station upper concourse.
Until the bus station upper concourse reopens on Sunday 5 January 2025, the following arrangements are in place:
Passengers can access the rail station via the bus station lower concourse entrance off Bridge Street.
Passengers will be able to use the stairs, escalators or lift to access the rail station.
The external access ramp to the train station will be temporarily closed for renovations until the new year.
This week's construction, traffic, and access updates
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We are pleased to share that the majority of traffic management measures that were put in place for the transformation works have been removed. This is due to the significant progress we have made on site, with most of the new pedestrianised streets now fully open to the public.
We would like to remind residents and visitors that traffic management measures are still in place at the following locations:
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What: At Jacobs Well, works are continuing around the former roundabout at Jacobs Well.
Traffic management: The dedicated Bus Lane on the southbound (outbound) carriageway will remain closed until the Interchange re-opens.
Why: This work has seen Jacobs Well roundabout become a super crossing.
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What: The installation of new drainage, kerbs and new carriageway, cycleway and footways on Hall Ings is largely complete.
Traffic management: Well Street and the section of Vicar Lane between Great Cross Street and Hall Ings is only open to buses and authorised traffic and the new Cyclops junction at Well Street/Vicar Lane/Hall Ings/Leeds Road is now operational. Hall Ings is now permanently reduced to one lane of traffic westbound between the junction with Vicar Lane and the junction with Drake Street.
Why: The work on Well Street has re-opened the road as a bus route, while the work on Vicar Lane has allowed for the reconnection of Vicar Lane to Hall Ings via the new ‘CYCLOPS’ junction.
Find out more
You can find out more about the scheme on the Future Bradford website or by getting in touch using the details and links below.
Get in touch if you would like to ask any questions
Email: info@future-bradford.co.uk
Write: Freepost BFD Highways
X (formerly Twitter): @bmdcHighways
Instagram: bradfordhighways
Facebook: Bradford Council Highways
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Norfolk Gardens opening marks completion of city centre transformation.